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I got the opportunity to photograph a few lighthouses while in Michigan this month. I'm really fascinated by them. Unfortunately, I didn't go inside any of them - I was doing good to be given the opportunity to stop for 10-15 minutes to photograph the outsides. Next summer, I'm going to take Colliemom's advice and take one of the lighthouse tours out of Mackinaw City.

So here are just a few of my pics:

Mackinaw City Lighthouse - It's very close to the base of the bridge on the Lake Huron side.

And here is the Northport lighthouse on the west side of Grand Traverse Bay. It has a much squattier appearance, but in the more traditional white:





And finally, the Mackinaw Island lighthouse (actually Circle Island lighthouse):

I love lighthouses, thats going to be one of my expeditions some time, to visit the majority of lighthouses on both coasts of the US. Thanks for the pictures.

Love lighthouses too. Tours on both coasts is definitely something to add to my list of things to do.

Michigan has at least 115 lighthouses, so you will be very busy!

Here is my favorite because I spent my summers near here for 60 years: http://www.michigan.org/Property/Detail.aspx?p=G19537. It is two miles from shore, but a great place to go by boat.

I like lighthouses, too.

JudyJB wrote:Michigan has at least 115 lighthouses, so you will be very busy!

Here is my favorite because I spent my summers near here for 60 years: http://www.michigan.org/Property/Detail.aspx?p=G19537. It is two miles from shore, but a great place to go by boat.

Judy - you should never have told me that - LOL!!! Now does that include the channel markers like at Charlevoix and Petoskey?

I don't think so. A lighthouse has to have been a place where a lightkeeper lived, so those should not count.

The reason for so many lighthouses is the very long coast Michigan has on four of the five Great Lakes--2000 miles of mainland coast. Michigan has the second longest coastline in the U.S.: longest is Alaska.

You know we'll want to see pics of all those lighthouses, too???

I love lighthouses too! But my favorite is the one at Makapuu on Oahu. After leaving CA and being at sea for 18 days, you have no idea how wonderful it is to see that little beacon grow bigger as you slowly reach your destination. Many years latter I bought a house near that lighthouse and hiked up there every Sunday with my dog to see the sunrise. Sometimes I would join the sunrise service held once a month. Awesome!!

Redwahine wrote:I love lighthouses too! But my favorite is the one at Makapuu on Oahu. After leaving CA and being at sea for 18 days, you have no idea how wonderful it is to see that little beacon grow bigger as you slowly reach your destination. Many years latter I bought a house near that lighthouse and hiked up there every Sunday with my dog to see the sunrise. Sometimes I would join the sunrise service held once a month. Awesome!!

I missed seeing any lighthouses in Hawaii. I guess I will just have to go back and look for them!

Oh, that Mackinaw City lighthouse brings back memories. It used to be (maybe still is?) next to a small park. We always bought excellent pasties at a shop in town (now gone), and afterwards the kids climbed on the rocks and threw pebbles into the water. Lovely place.

All the same, Red, I'm jealous of your Oahu lighthouse. I'll have to see that one day.

A really great trip, and one I took with my ex and kids way back in the 1980s, but want to repeat, is to completely circle Lake Superior. Lots of lighthouses and a ton of deserted beaches. Plus you get to see the Soo Locks and several ship museums. I spent a couple of summers near Marquette, Michigan, and fondly remember the long, cold beaches.

The north shore of Lake Superior is wild and has some of the best waterfalls along streams that empty into the lake. Neat towns along the way are Sault Saint Marie, Thunder Bay and Duluth.

I am adding this to my bucket list for a couple of years from now.

Oh, Judy, I'll meet up with you somewhere along that trip! (Probate should be done by then, so I should have my rig, yeah?) I have a few cherished ideas for trips to take, and one of them is Great Lakes shorelines.

By the way -- my sister's place is in Oscoda, just across the bay from Port Austin. Lovely water.